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Mayor to Marines: Leave downtown

A company of Marine Corps Reservists received a cold send-off from downtown Toledo yesterday by order of Mayor Carty Finkbeiner.

The 200 members of Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., planned to spend their weekend engaged in urban patrol exercises on the streets of downtown as well as inside the mostly vacant Madison Building, 607 Madison Ave.

Toledo police knew days in advance about their plans for a three-day exercise. Yet somehow the memo never made it to Mayor Finkbeiner, who ordered the Marines out yesterday afternoon just minutes before their buses were to arrive.

"The mayor asked them to leave because they frighten people," said Brian Schwartz, the mayor's spokesman.

"He did not want them practicing and drilling in a highly visible area."

So after a brief stop at a friendly base in Perrysburg Township, the Marines by early evening were back on their way home to Grand Rapids.

"I wish they would have told us this four hours ago," Staff Sgt. Andre Davis said.

Sergeant Davis, who traveled ahead of the five-bus convoy, stepped from his vehicle into downtown about 3:20 p.m. and was told by a city employee that the mayor wanted him and his soldiers packed up and out by 6 p.m.

Members of the 1st Battalion, 24th Marines have trained periodically in downtown Toledo since at least 2004 and most recently in May, 2006.

The Marines' buses set a course for their battalion's Weapons Company headquarters in Perrysburg Township as soon as they heard of the mayor's decision.

The Reservists' visit was no surprise to Toledo police, who Tuesday issued a news release to media outlets on behalf of the Marines that asked Toledoans not to be startled by the sight of camouflaged soldiers toting M16 rifles.

Police officers were awaiting the Marines' arrival yesterday afternoon and had set up a roadblock at Madison Avenue and Huron Street.

"There was apparently a break in communication somewhere between the mayor and the police department," Mr. Schwartz said.

"Where that break was, we don't know yet."

Maj. Jeffrey O'Neill, the company's commanding officer, said he was disappointed by how events played out yesterday, especially because Toledo had been a gracious host for Marine exercises in the past.

"You can go to military ranges for live fire [exercises], but there's no way to duplicate the urban jungle unless you actually train inside a city," Major O'Neill said.

Mr. Schwartz said the Marines declined Mayor Finkbeiner's alternative offer for them to practice their urban patrol tactics inside the former Jones Junior High School, 550 Walbridge Ave.

Major O'Neill said he was not aware of such an offer.

A pair of Marines spent the better part of yesterday setting up the Madison Building with generators, heaters, radios, and food to become the unit's overnight headquarters.

After receiving the mayor's request to leave, they began the task of moving the equipment back into an armored Humvee.

FOX Toledo News has learned a City of Toledo official has told Company A, 1st Battalion 24th Marines reservists of Grand Rapids, Mich., who were conducting an urban warfare exercise Friday in Downtown Toledo, to leave.

The Toledo Police Department has confirmed that the weekend military exercise, conducted by a weapons company detachment from Grand Rapids, Mich., in Toledo's downtown streets, has been cancelled.

Police tell FOX Toledo News that an unnamed city official told the Marines to pack up what they were doing and leave the city.

Two sources tell FOX Toledo News that Mayor Carty Finkbeiner made the decision. Brian Schwartz, the mayor's spokesperson, had no comment.

Major Dan Whisnant, an officer with the reserve unit conducting the exercise downtown, confirms it was the Office of the Mayor of Toledo who told the Marines to stop and leave the city.

Right before 5 p.m., "Alpha Company" packed up their stuff near the Madison Avenue, Huron and Erie streets corridor and Promenade Park, and headed back to their camp in Michigan.

While driving back, the reservists were told that their training area in Downtown Toledo was "no longer available."

Major Jeffrey T. Brooks, 1 24th Marines Weapons Company's commanding officer in Perrysburg, tells FOX Toledo News that the reserve battalion unit is looking into why the city asked them to leave.

About 200 Grand Rapids, Mich., reservists from Company A, 1 24th Marines were using the Madison Building and Promenade Park for military exercises Friday. They were set to continue their urban warfare exercise Saturday.

A section of Madison Avenue, between Huron and Erie streets, was blocked off by Toledo Police for the Marines' training purposes, forcing motorists to seek alternate routes downtown during the afternoon rush.

Marine reserve training sessions have been held in Toledo in years past, but this latest issue could be addressed by the Marine Reserve Headquarters Command in Washington, D.C.

Alpha Company returned to Grand Rapids at around 9 p.m. Friday evening with five bus loads of reservists. Of the 200, 180 Marines were participating in the urban warfare exercises.

Rescheduling the planned urban warfare exercise in the Glass City this weekend could come at a hefty pricetag. It will be rescheduled some time and will be held in Western Michigan, says LIN Television affiliate WOOD-TV.

Alpha Company recently deployed to Iraq, returning in April 2007.

Its previous urban warfare training in Toledo has proven beneficial while deployed in Iraq.

"The environment, you can't simulate anywhere to include our biggest Marine or Army bases," said one Marine Reservist officer. "Practicing those techniques of patrolling in an urban environment proved invaluable in Fallujah."

According to its website Alpha Company's mission is "to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver, or repel the enemy's assault by fire and close combat."

WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, a LIN TV affiliate contributed to this story.

Courtesy of Instapundit comes this story of a mayor not just ordering Marines out of town, but setting up a police roadblock to enforce same. It seems the mayor of Toledo got his little feelings hurt that he wasn't informed about the Marines returning for an urban training exercise -- an exercise that at least one Marine credited with helping him in real life in Fallujah. A claim by the mayor's spokesman that an alternative site was offered appears to be news to the Marines. Apparently, since he wasn't informed, the mayor decided to show his power (and lack of other attributes) in a fit of pique. Read the article, play the game of "Name that Party!"

This cost the Marines better than $10k in taxpayer money, not to mention wasting their time and having a negative impact on their training. The least I think should be done is for the mayor to personally pay that back to the Marines (NOTE: Having the city pay it for him is, IMO, tantamount to theft of public funds, though it would tend to confirm a lack of understanding of personal honor and be par for the course for a politician -- we have far too few Statesmen these days). I wonder how much pork is in the budget for Toledo...

LW

UPDATE: Here is the mayor's web site and here is the site for the City Council. If you care to contact them, then do so but keep it professional and polite. Don't give them any cover or excuse to dodge the issue.

TOLEDO, Ohio — Mayor Carty Finkbeiner stands by his decision to stop a Michigan-based Marine battalion from holding an urban warfare training session downtown, a spokesman for the mayor said.

About 200 Marine reservists had prepared to conduct the exercise at a vacant building Friday when city officials put a stop to it. Residents had complained about previous exercises, Finkbeiner spokesman Brian Schwartz said Saturday.

“The mayor asked them to leave because they frighten people,” Schwartz said. “He did not want them drilling and practicing in a highly visible area.”

Members of the Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines based in Grand Rapids, Mich., trained in Toledo in 2006, prior to an Iraq deployment that year.

Schwartz said the mayor informed then-police Chief Jack Smith that he didn’t want the Marines back. Finkbeiner was unaware they planned to return until Friday, Schwartz said.

“Unfortunately, the chief of police never communicated that down to his subordinates, so nobody handed it down to the mayor,” Schwartz said.

Smith said Saturday that Finkbeiner should have made his wishes known to current police officials.

“He told me he did not want them, as he put it, ‘playing war in Toledo,”’ Smith said of the 2006 training session. “I told him, as a former Marine, that if one young Marine’s life is saved because of training he or she received in Toledo, Ohio, then it was worth the inconvenience.”

Maj. Dan Whisnant, the battalion’s commander, said he was disappointed by Finkbeiner’s decision.

The training is vital to their combat mission, given the deployment in 2006 and part of 2007 to Iraq’s western Anbar province, he said.

“It prepares the guys for the real sights, smells, sounds of an operating city,” Whisnant said. “It heightens their sense of awareness. You don’t duplicate it.”

Whisnant said he was unaware of any complaints by Toledo residents or the mayor.

“The reason we rescheduled it [the training] is we had such a good training experience,” he said. “It went so smoothly last time.”

Finkbeiner has had some embarrassing missteps in his career. One of his more memorable gaffes occurred in 1994 when he pondered whether to ask deaf people to move near the airport. He later apologized and abandoned the plan.

Snub of Marines starts war of words in Toledo
Monday, February 11, 2008
The Associated Press

TOLEDO, Ohio -- As criticism spread over the Toledo mayor's decision to put the kibosh on downtown urban warfare training by a Grand Rapids-based Marine battalion, other city leaders were doing damage control today.

"On behalf of several colleagues on the city commission and numerous citizens, we would like to apologize to the community of Grand Rapids and the families of the reservists," Toledo Councilman Frank Szollosi said.

Mayor Carty Finkbeiner found himself Sunday under heavy fire -- mostly unkind words from other city councilmen and bloggers -- but still defending his action.

About 200 reservists from the 24th Marines' Company A prepared to conduct the exercise at a vacant building Friday when the mayor put a stop to it. Residents complained about previous exercises, city officials said.

In a statement, Finkbeiner said more than 10,000 people would have been leaving their downtown offices as Friday's exercise unfolded. He also cited a "communications breakdown" in which he was not aware of the planned training until hours before it was to occur.

"The mayor asked them to leave because they frighten people," Finkbeiner spokesman Brian Schwartz said. "He did not want them practicing in a highly visible area."

But Szollosi said Finkbeiner does not speak for him or others who have no concerns about the training. The Marines trained in Toledo in 2006.

"We are very chagrined at our mayor," he said. "He doesn't get it. The urban exercises play a key role in assuring the safety of (military) personnel."

Szollosi, chairman of the city's intergovernmental relations commission, has called a 2 p.m. meeting Tuesday to pose "some tough questions" to Finkbeiner. The full City Council meets later Tuesday.

"We basically want the mayor to apologize," he said. "It's very disappointing."

Schwartz said the mayor in 2006 informed then-police Chief Jack Smith that he didn't want the Marines back. Finkbeiner was unaware they planned to return until Friday, Schwartz said.

"Unfortunately, the chief of police never communicated that down to his subordinates, so nobody handed it down to the mayor," Schwartz said.

Smith said Saturday that Finkbeiner should have made his wishes known to current police officials.

"He told me he did not want them, as he put it, 'playing war in Toledo,'" Smith said of the 2006 training session. "I told him, as a former Marine, that if one young Marine's life is saved because of training he or she received in Toledo, Ohio, then it was worth the inconvenience."

Maj. Dan Whisnant, the battalion's commander, said he was disappointed by Finkbeiner's decision.

The training is vital to their combat mission, given the deployment in 2006 and part of 2007 to Iraq's western Anbar province, he said.

"It prepares the guys for the real sights, smells, sounds of an operating city," Whisnant said. "It heightens their sense of awareness. You don't duplicate it."

Whisnant said he was unaware of any complaints by Toledo residents or the mayor.

"The reason we rescheduled it (the training) is we had such a good training experience," he said. "It went so smoothly last time."

TOLEDO, Ohio — Mayor Carty Finkbeiner stands by his decision to stop a Michigan-based Marine battalion from holding an urban warfare training session downtown, a spokesman for the mayor said.

About 200 Marine reservists had prepared to conduct the exercise at a vacant building Friday when city officials put a stop to it. Residents had complained about previous exercises, Finkbeiner spokesman Brian Schwartz said Saturday.

“The mayor asked them to leave because they frighten people,” Schwartz said. “He did not want them drilling and practicing in a highly visible area.”

Members of the Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines based in Grand Rapids, Mich., trained in Toledo in 2006, prior to an Iraq deployment that year.

Schwartz said the mayor informed then-police Chief Jack Smith that he didn’t want the Marines back. Finkbeiner was unaware they planned to return until Friday, Schwartz said.

“Unfortunately, the chief of police never communicated that down to his subordinates, so nobody handed it down to the mayor,” Schwartz said.

Smith said Saturday that Finkbeiner should have made his wishes known to current police officials.

“He told me he did not want them, as he put it, ‘playing war in Toledo,”’ Smith said of the 2006 training session. “I told him, as a former Marine, that if one young Marine’s life is saved because of training he or she received in Toledo, Ohio, then it was worth the inconvenience.”

Maj. Dan Whisnant, the battalion’s commander, said he was disappointed by Finkbeiner’s decision.

The training is vital to their combat mission, given the deployment in 2006 and part of 2007 to Iraq’s western Anbar province, he said.

“It prepares the guys for the real sights, smells, sounds of an operating city,” Whisnant said. “It heightens their sense of awareness. You don’t duplicate it.”

Whisnant said he was unaware of any complaints by Toledo residents or the mayor.

“The reason we rescheduled it [the training] is we had such a good training experience,” he said. “It went so smoothly last time.”

Finkbeiner has had some embarrassing missteps in his career. One of his more memorable gaffes occurred in 1994 when he pondered whether to ask deaf people to move near the airport. He later apologized and abandoned the plan.

Toledo City Council yesterday attempted to quell the controversy surrounding Mayor Carty Finkbeiner’s order to cancel a Marine Corps warfare training exercise downtown with a unanimous vote of apology.

Without discussion, the 12-member council approved a resolution apologizing to Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., for the mayor’s action Friday afternoon.

Mr. Finkbeiner, who has refused to apologize and has defended his decision, yesterday declined to say whether he would sign the resolution or if he believed the controversy would hinder the city’s attempt to renew the 0.75 percent income tax on the March 4 ballot.

Katerina Bekyarska, a spokesman for Mr. Finkbeiner, said the mayor had not seen the resolution and has 10 days to consider signing it.

Regarding the effect on the tax renewal, Ms. Bekyarska relayed the mayor’s comment: “We’ll see on March 5.”

People on both sides of the Marine issue testified before a council committee yesterday. Many blasted the mayor, and some even called for his resignation.

James Hintz, of Henry County, testified that people should vote no on the 0.75 percent tax.

“Carty is a politician and the only thing that makes them aware is to take away what feeds them — and that is money,” Mr. Hintz said.

Councilman Joe McNamara, who presented the resolution along with Frank Szollosi, D. Michael Collins, Michael Ashford, and Mike Craig, pleaded with people not to attempt to punish the mayor by defeating the income tax renewal.

“Voting no on the 0.75 percent tax will not remove Mayor Finkbeiner from office,” Mr. McNamara said. “Please don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.”

The 0.75 percent is projected to raise about $57.7 million in 2008 and is part of the city’s total 2.25 percent wage tax. The money would be allocated equally to police, fire, and other safety departments; the general operating fund, and the capital improvements fund.

Last night, council also unanimously approved a resolution of support for the 0.75 percent income tax renewal.

During the committee hearing, Mr. Collins and Mr. Szollosi grilled Deputy Police Chief Don Kenney and Dave Moebius, the mayor’s assistant chief operating officer, about when the mayor learned the Marines would be in Toledo and whether he had given a previous order to keep them from using the downtown for urban exercises.

Mr. Collins, a former Marine, also wanted to know what the mayor would do to fix the problem, which has thrust Toledo into the national media.

Initially, Mayor Finkbeiner said if there was one major regret about the matter, it was the lack of communication to his office.

The mayor said if he had known of the Marines’ plans ahead of time, he could have arranged for the city to open the vacant North Towne Square mall or the former Jones Junior High School for their training.

He said he only learned about the training event scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Friday from an article that morning in The Blade.

The majority of those who spoke at yesterday’s hearing opposed the mayor’s order last week.

“The only thing he could do is spare us more embarrassment and resign,” said Chris Tiefel, of North Toledo.

Others, like downtown resident Robert Russ, supported Mr. Finkbeiner’s decision to prevent the Marines from using the downtown for the weekend-long exercises.

The exercises were to include mock firefights, ambushes, and the firing of blank ammunition.

Mr. Russ said if the weapons fire had caused somebody to die of cardiac arrest, people would have criticized the mayor for not canceling the event.

He added that the political aftermath is just “A-team, B-team garbage,” referring to the two factions of local Democrats that often are at odds.

Mayor Finkbeiner’s office yesterday released dozens of e-mails sent to city hall showing support for his decision. The office received many more negative e-mails.

During his State of the City address Monday, Mr. Finkbeiner said he would choose to again cancel a Marine training exercise in downtown Toledo, despite the backlash.

Later in the day, Mr. Finkbeiner e-mailed several Marine officers a “formal invitation” back to the city.

“I have further stated my desire to have the U.S. Marine Corp. [sic] conduct training exercises in the city of Toledo, wherever appropriate, with the probable exception of the central business district,” the e-mail said.

Mr. Finkbeiner said downtown, particularly on a weekday afternoon, was not suitable for military staging operations because as many as 14,000 people would have been departing their office buildings at the same time. He also said thousands of schoolchildren would have been transferring buses downtown Friday just as the exercise was to have begun.

Toledo city council humiliates mayor, votes unanimously to apologize to Marines; Update: Mayor comments
posted at 9:44 am on February 14, 2008 by Allahpundit
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Via Weasel Zippers, they realized the only thing “scarier” than Marines is a media firestorm and potential economic boycott. Compare and contrast this forthright correction with the wormy non-apology from the bien pensants in Berkeley. Not only did the mayor get de-pantsed by his own legislature but the resolution now goes to his desk, where he’ll have to decide whether to swallow his shame and sign it or double down and **** off the remainder of the country.

Toledo City Council yesterday attempted to quell the controversy surrounding Mayor Carty Finkbeiner’s order to cancel a Marine Corps warfare training exercise downtown with a unanimous vote of apology.

Without discussion, the 12-member council approved a resolution apologizing to Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, based in Grand Rapids, Mich., for the mayor’s action Friday afternoon…

The majority of those who spoke at yesterday’s hearing opposed the mayor’s order last week.

“The only thing he could do is spare us more embarrassment and resign,” said Chris Tiefel, of North Toledo.

Is it too much to hope that neighboring jurisdictions will step up and invite the Corps to train there, to compound the mayoral comeuppance? My friends, it is not.

Update: Here’s the mayor’s statement from a few days ago. He says this was nothing more than a logistical objection. The council obviously disagrees.

Frank Szollosi can play politics with anything. It is what he does best.

Today, I spoke with Major Jeff Brooks of the United States Marine Corps. I conveyed my sincere regret for the failure to communicate within the administration and any inconvenience that caused the U.S. Marine Corps.

I also conveyed, as my staff did on Friday, that we would make available abandoned buildings for Marine training outside of the CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT (CBD).

I concluded by reviewing my belief that the CBD, particularly on a weekday afternoon, was not available for military staging operations. 10,000 - 14,000 men and women would have been departing their offices in downtown Toledo on Friday afternoon with a major military training action unfolding - including the use of weapons being discharged with blanks.

My interest is not only in supporting the U.S. military wherever and whenever such support is sought, but also protecting the health, peace, and tranquility of Toledoans in every way possible.

For those who disagree with my priorities in terms of safeguarding Toledoans, we may disagree, but you have my respect.

Council OKs plan to invite Marines to train in Elmore
News Herald reports

ELMORE --Elmore Village Council unanimously agreed Monday night to invite the U.S. Marine Corps to use the village as a site for future training maneuvers.

Mayor Lowell Krumnow asked Council and Police Chief George Hayes to OK his proposal to contact the Marines saying he felt it would be a good gesture to let the Marines utilize the existing business district. He noted the district would have lower building facades and wouldn't be as large as business districts in bigger cities but it could still be of use to the military branch.

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On Tuesday, Krumnow contacted Lt. Col. Francis Piccoli, director of public affairs Marine Force Reserve in New Orleans to offer the village as a future training site for the Marines.
Picolli thanked Krumnow and council for their offer adding the Marines may visit the village for site assessment preempting any possible future training maneuvers.

The decision follows a dispute created Friday when Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner turned around the Marines last week before their sanctioned visit.

The Marines had told the police department about the maneuvers earlier this year. However, Finkbeiner said he learned about the visit in a local newspaper. He immediately called the Marine unit and told them they could not use Toledo's downtown for fear it may scare residents and visitors.

The barring of the Marines set off a firestorm of criticism across the Glass City.